The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) expressed worries that the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will have a negative impact on its readiness for next year’s general elections.
The chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, Festus Okoye, made this known in Abuja yesterday during a one-day seminar on Media and Gender Sensitive Reporting of Elections.
He said “For the 2019 elections, INEC will recruit and deploy over 1 million ad-hoc staff made up of lecturers and students in federal tertiary institutions and corps members. This category of staff will serve as returning officers, collation officers, supervisory presiding officers and assistant presiding officers. So, it is important and imperative that they are in school a month before the election”.
He however urged ASUU and the Federal Government to settle the deadlock insisting that a quick solution would serve the nation’s interest and democracy.
“We are several weeks away from the general elections and this seminar could not be more appropriate,” said Deputy Representative of UN Women, Mr. Lansana Wonneh.
“At UN Women, we are working with INEC to make sure that there are efforts in making elections free and fair and inclusive especially gender inclusive,” he said, urging the media to promote women in politics.
